Unsurprisingly, film festivals around the country have had to organize cancellations and postponements due to the COVID-19 outbreak, although ReelAbilities did neither, the film festival went online. The film festival had a conversation with the filmmakers online after the airing of each film in an attempt to continue their regular program as much as possible. 

​

Kupenda, directed by Philip Knowlton, was supposed to begin the festival in its opening weekend in Cambridge before the plans changed rapidly. The documentary feature film follows three young Kenyans with disabilities as they climb Mount Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain in Africa. In Kenya, many of the communities along the coast see disability as a bad omen from God leaving many children with disabilities abandoned, or even killed. The title of the film, Kupenda, is also the name of a nonprofit organization that takes care of the three mountain climbers. 

​

“We just had our world premiere a month ago so I think having the festival going online was better than not at all,” Knowlton said. “In a way we may have reached folks who aren’t in the Boston area and wouldn’t see it at the theater...so that was really special.” 

​

Disabilities are often not seen on the film screen, and when they are it is not often a positive portrayal which in turn stigmatizes the differently abled. None of this is news to Nancy Allen, a professor of a class titled Disabilities in Media at Emerson College. 

​

“The media representation can either reflect the negative stereotypes that we already have about disability, or we can use it to positively portray disability and unlearn that discomfort that we have,” Allen said.

​

ReelAbilities airs documentaries, feature films, and shorts all centered around disabilities that are physical, mental, or due to tragedy. Positive representation is portraying people with disabilities as human, meaning they’re complex, and multi-dimensional -- not defined by one facet of their life. 

​

“Disability is not inability,” Knowlton said. “If I had to sum up the message of what people should take away from the film it would be that.”

​

The festival’s mission statement outlines several objectives including “appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with different disabilities,” and “[celebrating] the diversity in our shared human experience.”

​

“It is really important for us to see disabled lives as valuable members of the community, who are capable, and whose lives have as much meaning as undisabled folks,” Allen said. 

​

Originally planned for Kupenda’s showcase at the festival was an appearance by an administrator at the nonprofit and the three disabled hikers themselves for a Q&A and discussion after the screening. 

​

“It’s one thing to hear and see my telling of this story, but it’s even more powerful to hear their version,” Knowlton said. 

​

According to Knowlton, the national tour, with the same group, is tentatively being planned for this coming October and November.